The largest insect in the world: the size of the wings of the “giant dragonfly” reached 71 centimeters

Long before birds ruled the skies, the giant insect earned the title of “the largest known insect of all time.” IFLScience writes that these creatures became extinct a long time ago, but scientists still managed to discover fragments of their remains.

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This amazing species was first described in 1939 by American entomologist and paleontologist Frank Carpenter. His entire report was based on a single incomplete specimen discovered in Elmo, Kansas (USA). A few years later he also managed to describe a similar but smaller species, Meganeuropsis americana. Thus, the ancient insect genus Meganeuropsis americana split into two branches:

• Meganeuropsis americana – smaller in size;
• Meganeuropsis permiana is the largest insect in the world.

Despite the scant findings, scientists were able to determine that the largest insects that once lived resembled giant dragonflies, but were not one of them. It is known that they lived on the planet approximately 275 million years ago, when our planet was one of the main land masses known as the supercontinent Pangea, formed by the collision of Euroamerica and Gondwanaland.

At that time in the planet’s history, reptiles dominated the land, but this did not prevent insect diversity from increasing dramatically. As a result, an incredible “giant dragonfly” settled on the planet, whose wingspan reached 71 centimeters.

Although the remains of Meganeuropsis permiana indicate that it resembled modern dragonflies, it is not a true dragonfly. Scientists say these ancient giants belonged to an extinct order of insects known as Meganisoptera. Sometimes they are also called griffins.

Researchers note that studying insects is complicated by the fact that their remains are extremely difficult to detect. First, they do not have bones like mammals, fish, birds and reptiles, and second, they do not fossilize like other animals.

Science shows that there is a theoretical limit to how large insects can grow, and Meganeuropsis permiana appears to have managed to reach that limit. First, the size of insects is limited by their exoskeletons; As insects grow larger, more energy and resources are required to build a new exoskeleton. Secondly, insects breathe completely differently – they use special tubes that supply oxygen to their cells. As the insect grows, the tubes become less and less efficient at supplying oxygen to the cells. Third, insects have a very simple metabolic system, which is very difficult to cope with maintaining large body size.

But as we have seen, some insects are capable of breaking these rules. This was achieved by Arthropleura, the “ancient giant dragonfly” and the largest centipede, reaching about 2 meters in length and about half a meter in width. However, these creatures are not classified as insects because they belong to their own class, Diplopoda.

Previously Focus He wrote that the largest centipede in history was more than 2 meters long.